the world; but that
the world should be saved through Him. He that believeth on Him is
not judged: he that believeth not hath been judged already, because
he hath not believed on the name of the only begotten Son of God.
And this is the judgment, that the light is come into the world, and
men loved the darkness rather than the light; for their works were
evil. For every one that doeth ill hateth the light, and cometh not
to the light, lest his works should be reproved. But he that doeth
the truth cometh to the light, that his works may be made manifest,
that they have been wrought in God."--JOHN iii. 9-21.

There are two great obstacles to human progress, two errors which retard
the individual and the race, two inborn prejudices which prevent men
from choosing and entering into true and lasting prosperity. The first
is that men will always persist in seeking their happiness in something
outside themselves; the second is that even when they come to see where
true happiness lies they cannot find the way to it. In our Lord's time
even wise and godly people thought the permanent glory and happiness of
men were to be found in a free state, in self-government, lightened
taxes, impregnable fortresses, and a purified social order. And they
were not altogether wrong; but the way to this condition, they thought,
lay through the enthronement of a strong-handed monarch, who could
gather round his throne wise counsellors and devoted followers. This was
the form of worldliness which our Lord had to contend with. This was the
tendency of the unspiritual mind in His day. But in every generation and
in all men the same radical misconceptions exist, although they may not
appear in the same forms.

In dealing with Nicodemus, a sincere and thoroughly decent but
unspiritual man, our Lord had difficulty in lifting his thoughts off
what was external and worldly and fixing them on what was inward and
heavenly.[10] And in order to effect this, He told him, among other
things, that the Son of man was indeed to be lifted up--yes, but not on
a throne set up in Herod's palace. He was to be conspicuous, but it was
as the Brazen Serpent was conspicuous, hanging on a pole for the healing
of the people. His lifting up, His exaltation, was secure; He was to be
raised above every name that is named; He was destined to have the
pre-eminence in all things, to be exalted above all principalities and
powers; He was to h